Seven Generations of the Drayton Family

From the Colonial Period to Modern Day

Second Generation: 1784-1820

In 1784, Rebecca Drayton moved into downtown Charleston and sold Drayton Hall to Charles Drayton (1743-1820), John's eldest surviving son by his second wife Charlotta. (William Henry, John's eldest son, died five years earlier in 1779.) Charles had married Hester Middleton of Middleton Place in 1774. They had eight children-four sons and four daughters. Three of Charles' sons, a daughter, and Hester predeceased Charles.

Charles is known today as Drayton Hall's great biographer because of his extensive diary, which he kept from 1784 until his death in 1820. Like Thomas Jefferson, with whom he corresponded, Charles was a product of the Enlightenment. His diary is full of all kinds of scientific thought. In fact, he and Thomas Jefferson experimented in many of the same areas: botany, architecture, landscape design, animal husbandry, and design efficiencies. In a diary entry from July 1, 1791, he notes, "Sowed in the garden 118 olive stones sent in the earth from France by Mr. [Thomas] Jefferson." Jefferson and Drayton were also two of the first people in America to install Rumford fireboxes. They did so not for their looks, but because they threw off more heat than traditional fireboxes.